Buddhism is like any other religion, that is prone either to placid dogma, or violent irrational genocide. The real question is how impoverished, and abused are the people of a specific region and religion.

(21-08-2013 09:54 AM)Dom Wrote: Ok, I am quite ignorant of Buddhism but keep hearing that it is one of the better religions.

To save myself some time researching and to get it from an atheist perspective in the first place, is there anyone here who can give me a run-down of the salient points?

Like how does it differ from other religions, what makes it more palatable to atheists, and what makes it nonsense anyway?

The recently arrived Buddhist keeps talking about atheism from his perspective, instead I would like a view of Buddhism from an atheist perspective.

Like any religion, there are different flavors. Some have a lot of woo, some less, some almost none.

The Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama) was a prince who forsook worldly concerns to confront the problem of suffering.

Quote:According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths", which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

In what seems to me to be its purest and simplest form, it is a philosophy and view that pain is inevitable, but that suffering can be transcended through physical and mental practices.

Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.

(21-08-2013 09:54 AM)Dom Wrote: Ok, I am quite ignorant of Buddhism but keep hearing that it is one of the better religions.

To save myself some time researching and to get it from an atheist perspective in the first place, is there anyone here who can give me a run-down of the salient points?

Like how does it differ from other religions, what makes it more palatable to atheists, and what makes it nonsense anyway?

The recently arrived Buddhist keeps talking about atheism from his perspective, instead I would like a view of Buddhism from an atheist perspective.

Like any religion, there are different flavors. Some have a lot of woo, some less, some almost none.

The Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama) was a prince who forsook worldly concerns to confront the problem of suffering.

Quote:According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths", which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

In what seems to me to be its purest and simplest form, it is a philosophy and view that pain is inevitable, but that suffering can be transcended through physical and mental practices.